


Of course it's all in your head (That doesn't make it not real)

by Mullk6



Series: Wait, you paired up WHO now? [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Piece
Genre: Ace Lives, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Because fuck you Teach, Crossover, Fix-It, Harry wants this, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, MoD!Harry, Multi, No marineford, Nobody likes you, Portgas D. Ace Lives, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate Telepathy, Soulmates, Teach dies, Thatch lives, Thatch wants this, Whitebeard Lives, You hear their thoughts in your head, because Teach dies, but not names, he's been waiting for so long, names only come in death, never names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-03-23 10:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13785246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mullk6/pseuds/Mullk6
Summary: Harry woke up with a voice in his head. This would have been more disconcerting had it not been a long time coming.Thatch thought he'd never hear the voice of his Other. That was before he heard giggling one day while being chased by Marco.He was on cloud nine.Then Teach happened.





	1. Voices in my head (I'm not insane)

Harry Potter, age 17, woke up with a voice in his head.

This was not as concerning as it would have been to others, rather it was a long time coming.

At the point a person reaches magical majority, or just 17 for muggles, they can hear their soulmate. No one knew what caused this phenomena and Harry wasn't concerned about that, rather, he was surprised he could hear his soulmate.

He had, after all, ended up in another world. When he hadn't heard a voice after his 17th birthday, he's assumed his soulmate was younger than him. It turned out he was wrong. It wasn't that his soulmate was younger than him, he was just in the wrong world to hear them. He was just glad he'd had a week to familiarize himself with the world before his soul had connected with the other, whatever his name was. It was too bad their names could not be communicated through the connection.

_“--- sure is a riot, though it's a miracle he's never suffocated from falling asleep in his food...”_

It wasn't the first time today he'd heard about random people and food. He wondered if his soulmate worked in catering or as a ship's cook. It would make sense, especially with the flashes of ocean he had seen, unguarded. He wondered how old the man was, to have stopped trying to guard his mind in preparation...

Harry himself had kept quiet mentally, just wanting to bask in the voice of other half, slightly afraid of letting them know he was there. However, fate threw a wrench into those plans.

_“Oh, come on, -----! It was a harmless prank, don't get your plumage in a twist, frikkin' blue chicken!”_

Harry couldn't hold in his laughter, mental or otherwise. Though he noticed to moment the ever-moving mind of his mate stilled. He then panicked and started to mentally ramble _I- I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you! I'll- I'll just leav-_

_“NO!”_

Harry was sent reeling from the vehement denial, his eyes widening and his hand unconsciously coming up to grip the front of his shirt. _Um..._

_“Nonononono, please don't leave! You're real? Aren't you? You're not just something I made up?”_

Harry felt his eyes water at the desperate tone and scrubbed at the tears _I'm real... I'm sorry you had to wait so long..._

_“It's fine, it's... wait, how old are you?”_

_17... I turn 18 soon._

_“I'm 27... bit of an age gap, but I'm sure we'll manage, right?”_

_I... yeah, we will. We'll make it work, I promise... Where are you? I've managed to glean that you're at least near the ocean, but that doesn't really say much._

_“New World. I'm in the New World. I'm part of a Pirate crew.”_

Harry blinked before he replied _That, actually, explains some of the things I've been hearing from you._

_“I bet. Hang on, the blue chicken is being a nuisance.”_

Harry smiled and laid down on his bed above the repair shop he'd started up. He'd only done it to quell his boredom, rather than any real need for money.

The Pirate soon returned mentally and they spent a good while just talking. By the time Harry went to sleep, he was feeling better than he had in a while.

Thatch had long since given up on the possibility of a soulmate. By the time he was 25 he'd been sure he'd never hear the voice of his other. Everyone on the crew knew it.

Which made it that much more surprising that one day after finally managing to prank Marco by putting pink dye in his shampoo he heard giggles inside his head. This, of course had caused him to freeze, causing Marco to slam into him and them both tumbling onto the deck, with him slamming his face painfully into the deck.

This caused some minor confusion, since everyone present had seen him freeze for no good reason and not move even after faceplanting, but Thatch wasn't paying that any mind. All his focus was internal. At least, up until Marco's insistent prodding and shaking caused him to cut short getting to know his soulmate better and focus on the no longer vengeful blond.

“Thatch, what happened, yoi? You went completely blank.”

Thatch noticed he was sitting upright and surrounded by his brothers “I heard them.”

It took them a moment to decipher just what he meant, before Marco's eyes widened in comprehension even as a few of their brothers called out in celebration “You mean?”

Thatch nodded, looking thoughtful “Their laughter startled me and then I had to convince them not to cut off before I could talk to them... the kid's seventeen...”

Marco's eyebrow rose at that, though he couldn't say it wasn't expected “Hell of an age-gap.”

“Yeah... I really need to get back to him before he thinks I forgot.”

Marco let Thatch retire to his own room with that excuse, even if he knew it was most likely Thatch that was worried that his soulmate had somehow managed to vanish during their talk.

They quickly figured out how to send each other images of themselves, which prompted the nickname “Green-eyes” from Thatch, since names were very much a thing that they could not exchange. No one really knew why, possibly so that finding your other half wouldn't be too easy. Thatch couldn't even tell him which crew he was part of. It was frustrating, but Harry had his suspicions.

However, the state of perpetual happiness was cut short one night when Harry woke up to a searing pain not his own.

_What's happening?! Luv, what's wrong?_

He didn't receive a coherent answer at first, only a feeling of betrayal along with the image of a grinning, fat, bearded man holding a bloody knife and an odd fruit that had to be a devil fruit.

_“Teach... you damn... traitor...”_

_Luv? What's wrong? Stay with me!_

_“Heh... sorry, Green-eyes... guess I'll be... leaving you... Oyaji... will take care... of you...”_

_Luv? Don't go... don't go... YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME, THATCH!_

Harry's eyes widened as he realized he'd not only heard a name, but also known his soulmate's name. This meant Thatch was dying.

But Harry refused to let that happen. And so, for the first time since he'd acquired it, he used his status to his advantage.

He grabbed the resurrection stone and held it to his chest as he cried “Death!”

_~:You summoned me, my Master?:~_

Harry looked at the hooded figure and swallowed, tears in his eyes “Please... please keep my mate's soul and body safe. Don't let them bury him... and don't let him get lost... please.”

Harry couldn't tell, but Death was pleased by the fact that even now, he was not demanding the deity to do something, which he would have to obey. Instead, he was asking, meaning Death _could_ say no... _if_ he wanted to.

_~:As you wish, Master :~_

On the Moby Dick, Thatch's cooling body had been found and they'd seen Teach leaving with the fruit their brother had found. They'd realized quickly what had happened and they were all feeling enraged, hurt and betrayed. They'd barely had time to turn Thatch's body on his back and lift it onto a stretcher when it happened. Suddenly, the middle of the 4th Division Commander's chest glowed, showing the outline of a strange symbol, a cut in half circle inside a triangle, before a white, wispy ball of something appeared over it, hovering in place.

Marco frowned and reached a hand out, jolting back at the _familiar_ feel of it, before he laid a hand on the corpse itself, which left him feeling like he'd been plunged in cold water, even as he faintly heard someone speak.

_Don't go... stay with me... don't leave me... you can't leave me now..._

The phoenix shook himself free from the sensation and took a step back, looking at the people present “I think... that Thatch's soulmate is doing something, yoi.”

Ace frowned “What do you mean?”

Marco nodded to their fallen brother “I'm pretty sure that's Thatch's soul... if his soulmate has some sort of Devil Fruit, then maybe he's preventing Thatch from... leaving, I guess.”

Izo thought of something “If that's true, then... we can't bury him until something happens.”

Ace frowned, before his gaze turned murderous “I'm going after Teach.”

They immediately protested, but the Fire Logia pushed on “Look, Thatch's soulmate might not know which crew he's part of, but he must've seen Teach when he- anyway, he probably will be searching for the jackass, so if I find Teach, I'll find Thatch's mate and I can bring him here.”

No one could really stop him after that, which was fine with Ace.


	2. Save his soul: Harry eradicates the darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It took him a month, but now he will end his Other's murderer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suggest watching Episode 325 before reading this, since the episode is one of the best Ace episodes, barring his capture, that part sucks.  
> But don't worry! I fixed it!

It had taken him a difficult 30 days, but he was close now. So close to the shard of soul that clung to the dagger that had killed his Soulmate and the putrid soul of his killer. He could also sense a soul with a family bond to his Other in the direction of the murderer.

If he was right, this rocky island was called Banaro. It only had one inhabited village which, from the feel of it, was currently missing quite a few souls. He tied his boat to one of the many rocks on and around the island before he ventured towards the foul soul and the fragment he was there to retrieve. Without it, he would not be able to resurrect Thatch successfully. The slight figure slunk between the buildings and as he drew closer and closer to the murderer, he heard voices.

“Looks like I really can't let you roam around... He's my younger brother!”

Harry's head rose at the voice. The family member? It had to be. It could not be one of the murderer's companions, not with that tone of voice. He rounded a corner just in time for the bright yet dim soul on one of the roofs to speak again “And of course... I won't be your nakama!”

Before the man could even finish speaking, the vile man's companion shot him, to no avail. The fire which appeared told Harry all he needed to know. This person was a Devil Fruit eater. Normal attacks would not work.

Furthermore, he felt pissed. The emotion flared his soul like the fire which he controlled even as he smirked, attacking the sniper. The young Master of Death was enthralled by the show of power and control over that power when the Fire Logia, Hiken no Ace, walked through the building he'd cleaved in half and drew all the fire to himself, extinguishing it. Though his rage glowed brightly in Harry's eyes, the man showed almost nothing of it outwardly. He could see the rage directed at this monster, Marshal D. Teach, whom had murdered one of his brothers.

When the man explained the why, Harry was too close to snapping and had to almost physically restrain himself from attacking. No, he could not do that yet, first he'd have to make sure no more lives were lost on this island... at least, of its original inhabitants. The Blackbeard Pirates had to go. And so, as the man activated his stolen power, the 19-year-old wizard got to work.

The people of the village watched in fear as their homes were reduced to rubble by the inky darkness. They'd be more afraid if the stag made entirely out of glowing mist wasn't herding them into the forest and keeping the destructive blackness away from them. They'd seen the strange energies repel each other, thus keeping them safe. Soon after the shaking stopped, a young man with the greenest eyes they'd ever seen appeared before them and formed a barrier made of that same mist as the stag.

“Stay under this, it will keep you safe until the danger has been dealt with.”

One of the braver villagers stepped forth “And who are you to tell us this? Why should we trust you?”

The young man seemed to hesitate for a moment “I have nothing to give but my word, but know that I will not let this man leave here alive... he attacked my soulmate badly enough for me to not be able to reach them and for that he must pay.”

Any remaining protests died in the face of those words. It was hard to doubt the word of someone fighting for their other half.

The young man, teen really, smiled and turned to face the source of the calamity “This won't take long, please stay under the dome until I dismiss it.”

While he could have headed straight fort he traitor, he decided to take care of the man's backup. Not just because of Moody-ingrained instincts, but also just to spite the man. He would show him what happened to those who angered a Potter.

One soul.

Two souls.

Three souls and a familiar.

Time to go.

Ace could barely catch his breath through the pain. He'd been thrown around by the traitor for a while now and while Teach stood, he was left on his hands and knees, trying to breathe through at least cracked ribs. It had been too long since he'd felt pain, his tolerance of it wasn't what it used to be.

“Before darkness everything is useless! Your strength is near legendary... but...”

The traitor was talking, but Ace had trouble hearing him over the ringing in his ears as he tried to sit up.

“Become my nakama!”

That made Ace chuckle, what crap. As if he'd ever lower himself to that level. He wasn't that weak. And...

“Yielding my powers to you... forfeits the point of being born human... and I don't live with regrets.” he said with a depricating smile “You got that, idiot?”

Fire and darkness clashed and as the Second Division Commander's strength waned, something changed. Suddenly, Ace was shielded by a strange mist and Blackbeard's attack was repelled.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Ace looked up from his position, once again, on the ground. In front of him, facing Teach, was someone with black hair and robes, their arms flung to the sides as if to block the downed Whitebeard Commander from view and harm. The figure then lowered their arms as they, no, he spoke.

“I am the one who greets Death as an old friend.” he said as three balls of light circled him, causing Ace to flinch as he saw the familiar forms of what had to be souls, if the theory about Thatch was right, which would mean... “And I have come to retrieve that which you _took from me!_ ”

Ace ripped his gaze away from the souls and instead stared at whom could only be the Fourth Division Commander's soulmate.

“Took? I ain't never even met you before!” Teach yelled, obviously caught off guard. Good.

The ravenette in front of him flung his right arm to the side aggressively, causing the souls to swing to the side and bob in place a few steps away “You took the life of my Other! Your nakama! You _took him from me!_ ”

Ace flinched back at the rage and pain in that last sentence and grimaced when realization crossed the dark logia's face.

“Thatch's...”

The man didn't have time to finish that sentence as the 19-year-old, if Ace was remembering correctly, flung his hand towards Teach, as if reaching for something. Not soon after, a dagger flew from under Teach's coat and into the teen's hand.

“You forced me to feel you snuff out his life, let's see how you react to me snuffing out your crew.”  
As he said that, the three souls rearranged into a row, materializing ghostly images of the Blackbeard Pirates. Then Thatch's soulmate, “Green-eyes” as the man had always called him, once again extended a hand and clenched his fist.

The first figure clutched his chest, flickered, then dematerialized like dust blown in the wind. Green-eyes repeated this twice before he slowly turned his hand toward Teach.

“And now... I will see you die for Power!”

For the last time, Thatch's soulmate clenched his fist, causing Teach to grab his chest and let out a sound as if he was choking. Slowly, painfully, a ball of... something... was drawn out of the man, accompanied by the agonized screams of the traitor.

The man in front of him trembled “You don't deserve death... but there is nothing else I can do to ensure that you do not cause any more harm. I want you to _suffer_ , but I'll settle for knowing you can never harm anyone again!”

With that, Green-eyes jerked his hand to the side, causing Teach's soul to separate from his body and, for the lack of a better word, extinguish.

After a tense moment of silence, the figure finally turned to face Ace, and yep, those were definitely a pair of very green eyes. Under the black robes the teen wore slacks in the same colour, dark green snakeskin boots, a white dress-shirt and a vest made from the same material as his footwear. Perched on his nose were a pair of glasses and above those, hidden under unruly black hair, was a lightning bolt scar, just like Thatch had described.

The teen smiled as he extended the hand not holding the dagger he'd taken from Teach “Hi, I'm Harry. Thatch's soulmate. It's nice to meet you.”

The Fire Logia weakly raised himself off the ground with the help of his arms and took the offered hand “Portgas D. Ace. Nice to meet you, Green-eyes.”

The teen blushed at the nickname and ducked his head, looking anywhere but at the freckled son of Roger before tugging him up with surprising strength.

“Can you get me to Thatch in then next 36 days?”

Ace looked at him strangely “Yeah, easily, why?”

The emerald-eyed teen looked down at Teach's dagger, hand clenched around the handle “Resurrection of the dead is difficult on it's own, but after 66 days have passed since their death, it becomes impossible. I would have headed straight for him... if it hadn't been...” he bit his lip “When a person is murdered, a shard of their soul clings to the object or person that killed them. Without their entire soul, a person becomes... unstable. Less than they were. I could not revive Thatch without the piece of soul clinging to his murder weapon.”

The Whitebeard Pirate looked at the very unassuming person in front of him. Had he not just witnessed it, he'd never believe the kid had taken out Teach and his crew. He sighed and grabbed hold of the teen's arm, dragging him behind him.

“Come on, my boat's this way.”


	3. O'Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Resurrection of Thatch.

The day dawned like any other. Melancholy and doubt, not to mention restlessness had plagued the Whitebeard Pirates ever since Teach's betrayal. So when the lookout spotted the familiar sight of Striker speeding towards the Moby, everyone was ecstatic.

Ace was back.

And he'd brought company.

Marco frowned thoughtfully at the foreign, yet somewhat familiar Haki. He could swear he'd never felt it before, yet it kept niggling at something at the back of his head. Shaking it off, he ordered someone to prepare Striker's pulley-system, since it didn't make sense to have Ace and his companion climb the ladder when Striker would be hauled up anyway. Oyaji was watching from his chair as the ropes moved, bringing their wayward brother closer to them every second.

When the familiar orange hat peeked over the side of the ship, there were cheers of the Commander's name and many rushed to greet him, but were stopped by said Commander's look once his head was visible. When Striker was high enough, he jumped off the boat and turned to the sitting figure in it, extending his arms.

“Alright, up you get.”

The person in question didn't look impressed “I'm not an invalid, Ace.”

The other raven raised an eyebrow at that but didn't move “Maybe not, but both your hands are occupied and you haven't slept since the separating, which was three days ago. You're not exactly steady on your feet at the moment.”

The younger of the two seemed to want to protest further, but instead sighed and shifted into a position that let Ace pick him up and set him on the deck. That was when Marco spotted what on earth the kid was holding. He stared at the pale, wispy energy floating in his cupped hands.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock, before he whipped around and yelled “Get Thatch's body! _NOW!_ ”

As a few of his brothers scrambled to do just that, more and more people noticed what the kid was holding and slowly came to the same conclusion as Marco.

This was Green-eyes. Thatch's soulmate. And the person keeping Thatch's soul from moving on.

Green-eyes was looking at Marco in shock, bringing the small piece of soul closer to his chest as Ace eyed the blond with a look that said he was impressed. After all, the little idiot was _still_ blocking their bond.

Speaking of which...

Marco mentally poked that barrier, causing Ace to blink and smile sheepishly before bringing it down to normal levels of some-but-not-complete privacy.

_“Sorry Marco, I didn't even realize I was still blocking you.”_

Marco smiled faintly _It's fine, though, care to tell me exactly why you were blocking me in the first place, yoi?_

Ace's expression darkened and he crossed his arms, this time speaking aloud “The devil fruit Teach killed Thatch over gave him some freaky powers. He could negate mine by touching me, so I had no use of my usual intangibility. I just- I didn't want you to feel it, or..

_“I didn't want you to be able to feel my fear.”_

Marco's face softened and he stepped forward to gather the young man in his arms “Oh, Ace.” he sighed, hating how his mate couldn't seem to do anything but care for others over himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, Marco saw Green-eyes looking at them with longing and his heart went out to the teen who had almost lost the other half of his soul before he even met him. Not soon after, a few of the 4th Division members came back carrying the stretcher Thatch had been left on, causing Green-eyes to immediately dash towards them and fall to his knees beside the prone body of his mate as he was set down on the deck.

Slowly, the ravenette extended shaking hands towards the wispy ball that was Thatch's soul and cupped it in one hand, the other holding the lone wisp and brought the two closer. The shard wavered, before slowly becoming absorbed by the bigger mass, which looked brighter than it had been previously.

Green eyes took a deep breath before he started to speak, wind starting to whip around him, tugging at his and Thatch's clothes and hair “O'Death. Hear my call. Release thy hold on this soul. I claim this one from thee and offer you a trade. Four souls I have given, I now ask for one.”

As he spoke, a dark mass rose up behind him, taking the form of a tall, robed individual holding a scythe in skeletal hands. The figure, none other than Death itself, raised a hand, one finger extended as four souls ejected from the kneeling youth.

_**~:The deal has been acknowledged... the toll, paid. The murderer for the victim. The soul is now yours to collect when the time comes.:~** _

As the being spoke, one soul vanished, the others slipping back into wherever they'd came from. Then the figure took hold of its own robe and spun, obscuring their view of the duo on the floor, before vanishing in a burst of darkness. When they could see again, Green-eyes was slumped on Thatch's chest, which suddenly rose as the owner took a deep breath, eyes snapping open.

Thatch breathed.

Wait, how was he breathing? Hadn't he been stabbed-

Harry!

The 4th Division Commander tried to jerk upright, only to be stopped by a weight on his chest, causing him to look down and come face-to-face with the greenest eyes. Familiar eyes.

Harry.

Thatch's eyes widened at the name popping into his head, realizing he _must_ have died to know his name.

_Oh, Thatch..._

He brought a weak hand up to smooth over black windswept hair at the sound of his soulmate as the emerald eyes in front of him filled with tears and the teen smiled in relief, before closing his eyes and slumping on top of Thatch, out cold.

Somewhat alone in his mind, the Whitebeard pirate finally noticed he was lying on the deck on a stretcher and, once he glanced up, he was surrounded by his brothers, who were looking at him and his soulmate in awe, joy and relief. Though, Ace looked a little worse for wear.

Cut off from the first available source of information, Thatch instead opened his mouth and asked “What happened?”

Ace chuckled, running a hand through his hair “Man, you won't believe the month we've had.”

Their brothers laughed, before Thatch registered exactly what had been said.

“ _ **A month?!**_ ”


	4. All I ever wanted (now I am home)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thatch and Harry finally, finally, get to interact with each other without the barrier of distance between them.

It was a solid 15 minutes of awkward explaining on Ace and the crew's part, mostly Ace's part, but Thatch had gotten the gist of it. The crew and Oyaji had been suffering from the betrayal, in suspense from the apparent power his soulmate had to have had for his soul to remain, not to mention the strange symbol, Ace had taken it upon himself to take care of Teach and would have probably died, or worse, if Thatch's apparently Supremely Scary Soulmate hadn't showed up and used his questionable and reeeeally freaky powers to take the souls of Teach and his Merry Band of Murderers.

Honestly, Thatch couldn't see it. None of them could, but they believed Ace. It was just... very very difficult to view the honestly adorable teen as any sort of threat. Maybe that was a good thing. All the bigger impact when he decided to release the beast. But that may just be his inner prankster talking.

That being said, all Thatch really wanted was to spend time with his Green-Eyes. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly possible at the moment, so he settled for the second thing he wanted to do, which meant _showering_. Good god he felt gross, there was month-old blood covering him and other questionable grime that he wanted _off_. Even pirates had their limits!

Harry could hear water. It took him a moment to realize the sound was in his head. Ah. Thatch was probably cleaning himself then. It wasn't surprising, Harry thought. Being dead had to be horrible on one's hygiene.

He could feel Thatch pause, before he heard the man's voice in his head _Harry?_

The green-eyed man smiled faintly _“Yes, luv. It's me... and I am so glad I can hear you again.”_

The Silence had been gnawing at him and he was beyond relieved it was gone. The constant buzzing of Thatch's thoughts and presence were very much welcome and Harry hoped he'd never have to go through that again.

It didn't take long after that for Thatch to enter the room, hair damp yet somehow in that ridiculous pompadour. Hearing his giggles, mental and physical, the chef pouted “No laughing at my hair!”

Harry laughed more freely, relieved. He hadn't wanted to acknowledge it, but he had been afraid he'd never hear Thatch again. But now, actually hearing his voice not only in his head, but outside it too? It was more than he'd ever dreamed of.

Thatch had to have picked up on some of those thoughts, since the man swiftly came over to the bed and climbed in beside him, bundling him up in his arms. The young wizard closed his eyes and snuggled into the embrace, content.

 _“This is all I ever wanted.”_ The last Potter absently thought, recalling the scene he'd witnessed in the Mirror of Erised. Snuggled up together with an unidentifiable figure, obviously happy. He was sure if he ever saw the artifact again, he'd see only himself.

Thatch cocked his head “What's the Mirror of Erised?”

Ah, it appeared his thoughts had leaked through again. Harry shook his head before answering “I show you not your face, but your heart's desire.” he said softly, tracing his mate's arm as it tightened around him “It was an ancient object back home, dangerous due to its power. Supposedly, people had wasted away gazing at the scene it showed them... when I looked into it... I saw this.” he continued, gripping the arms around him as he swallowed “I saw myself being loved unconditionally... and if my teacher had not moved it, I too would have wasted away in front of it.”

Thatch nosed the ravenette's neck and showered him with little kisses that caused him to giggle again and said with a smile “Well, is it everything you wanted?”

Tears slipped down Harry's cheeks as he chuckled and answered “Yeah, all that and more... could have gone without the dying bit though.”

The 4th Division Commander paused at that “Now that you mentioned it, how did you even...” he trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his left hand.

The wizard let out a small “Ah,” at that, pondering on how he should word it “It was an accident, really, but I can't say I regret it. I didn't even believe in the story of “The Master of Death” but luckily it wasn't just an empty title. That is what allowed me to save you. I asked Death not to take you to the beyond.”

Keeping a close eye on his own and Thatch's thoughts he could feel the man thought he'd eaten a Devil Fruit and he wasn't sure what to think about that. He felt the Chef's attention on that train of thought and spoke again “I'll tell you everything, just... not yet?”

Surprisingly enough, Thatch agreed to that and they spent a good while just basking in each others' presence. They didn't speak, at least, not out loud and after a while, both of their minds started wandering.

In the end, Harry didn't have to explain everything. All he had to do was remember as Thatch paid attention to his mind. He didn't leave anything out, at least not intentionally. After a while, the 4th Division Commander huffed and buried his face in the raven locks of his soulmate.

_A parallel world, huh? Not sure if I should be insulted or flattered that there's no one in this world that can handle me._

Harry burst into laughter at the man's errant thought _“Who says it's you? Maybe it's me no one could handle?”_

Thatch hummed _How 'bout both? Could definitely be both._

The younger of the two cast a wry glance in his direction _“Alright, both.”_

As they both expressed their mirth, Harry's thoughts once again wandered in a different direction. Namely, how he'd have to actually interact with Thatch's Captain. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Slowly but surely, Harry let the steady chatter of his soulmate's thoughts lull him into a content doze, figuring he could worry about it later. For now, he was quite content with just lying in his lover's arms, something he'd dared think about only in his most secret dreams.

Things were finally looking up for him and he refused to be negative about it if he didn't have to.


End file.
